I hope nobody minds me starting another comparison/"what was your experience with..." thread. I've looked around this forum a lot, but generally the other similar threads seem interested in different qualities than I am.

My #1 concern is cost, as I don't make a lot of money, but I'm willing to cut my other extraneous expenses in order to try this. I've been counting calories and exercising for about a month now, but I'm really dreadful at pre-planning my menus (ie: I won't do it), and so my calorie totals at the end of each day aren't very consistent, nor are the nutrients I get those calories from. For instance, I want more than 100g of protein per day, but it's easy to fall short. I also fall short on calories often. That's why I want to try letting someone ELSE decide what I should eat for awhile.

So! Got a few questions for you all:

1.) What is your favorite plan of the three? Medifast, New Lifestyle Diet, or NutriSystem? And why, if you feel like sharing?

2.) BIG concern of mine: Are these diets safe to abruptly leave after your body's grown accustomed to them? Medifast and the New Lifestyle Diet in particular seem very similar (nutrient-wise) to low-carb diets where your whole body chemistry seems to readjust for the purpose of losing weight. My understanding is that when you lose weight on a low-carb diet, you can't just go back to eating a normal, healthy diet afterwards or you will gain weight due to the sudden reintroduction of carbs.

3.) I believe I noticed that all 3 plans net you daily calories below the 1200-for-women safe threshold. Now I understand a big part of that threshold is getting all the important nutrients your body needs to perform optimally, but another part is preventing your body from locking down and going into "starvation mode," where it's even harder to lose unwanted fat. Since I see a lot of people have lost weight on these plans regardless, I'm wondering why "starvation mode" isn't an issue for these extreme low-calorie diets? Is the body starving on this diet? And (related to #2) will it experience a sudden weight gain if quitting suddenly due to the panicked body storing every bit of fat it can as soon as you eat it?

4.) (The reason for asking #2 & #3 is: ) Is there any point to following any of these diets for only one month? I can't afford to stay on them long-term, but I would still like to shed a few pounds and stir up my body/metabolism by introducing something new and healthy, before going back to my usual diet (~1500 calories, ~50/30/20 c/p/f). If effective, I'd love going back on the diet for another month down the road; rinse, repeat.

Phew! That's a lot to answer; thanks in advance for the help! Any advice is very appreciated.

I haven't tried the other diets, but I have experience with the nutrisystem program. Beginning March 3rd, I started the program. The diet is easy to follow and portable, but expensive. Besides the program food, you will need to supplement with fruits, vegetables and dairy. I think the program's advantage is it teaches portion better than any other plan I have followed. I have counted calories and tried weight watchers in the past. I have lost about 30 lbs and used the nutrisystem plan for 2 months. Basically, I am still using the nutrisystem plan, but using similar food and menus from the grocery store. It is working for me..... good luck with your diet

Ah, we Sagittarians do like to do research and ponder alot...
I am no help at all as I am starting New Lifestyle Diet tomorrow (assuming my package arrives on time). I know a place where you can find answers regarding the NLD, but you'll have to Google. Liquid diet discussion. I know of people who are maintaining weight losses of over 100 lbs, even 200. Have fun researching!

Can anyone give me any input about re-gaining weight if the plan is suddenly stopped? Because like I said, I can only afford 1 month right now, but I don't want to bother if my weight goes down and then right back up afterwards.

Diets like Medifast and NLD could easily result in a quick regain if you are not careful, because they are very low calorie and low carb. Instead of stopping suddenly, it's recommended that you transition by gradually adding real foods back into your diet. You'll still need to watch your calories, probably for the rest of your life. The diet never stops. It's maintenance Nutrisystem would be about the same way, as are most diets. If you stop any diet plan, you risk regaining unless you very carefully monitor your calories.

Of the diets you listed, I would recommend Medifast first. I tried Nutrisystem and hated it, the quality of food was just horrible. However, some people do like it.

The NLD plan is very iffy, in my opinion. From what I've been told (and I've not verified it but it came from someone that researched this), it's just some guy that buys the mixes from a manufacturer that sells them in bulk to a lot of different places. There's not a medical team behind NLD to back it up. They get their products from Robard, who will do private labeling of their products for anyone. You can buy them from other online sources as well, often cheaper than NLD.http://mydietshopz.com/http://www.profoundfoods.com/

Medifast does cost more, but it's not the same product. There's a lot more research behind it, and you get support from a staff of nutritionists.

Great, thanks Suzanne! I definitely plan on calorie counting and watching my portions for good, but my current self-constructed plan is ~1500 calories per day and 50% carbs or a lil more, which is a lot more (both calories and carbs) than a mostly-liquid diet like these.

I guess even if it's just one month I can start reverting my diet a week or so before the supply runs out, swapping out liquid meals for real ones, and that way the last week's supply will last even longer so it's a gradual shift. Hopefully ~2 weeks is enough to revert!

I guess I will go ahead and try it when I get the money. It's a lot of money to lose if it doesn't work (reverting back to normal calorie counting), but it's worth the chance that it might.

Not to start a debate, but I gotta stick up for Hamilton, the guy that packages the stuff for New Lifestyle Diet. He offers a direct contact phone number and email and a street address for his company instead of just an online form that goes who knows where He even answers emails himself and started a blog years ago that turned into a liquid diet message board. The company is a member of the BBB with a satisfactory record (I researched all this before purchasing) too.

Hamilton removed 101 lbs with HMR, a liquid diet plan and has been maintaining that loss with New Lifestyle for over 5 years now. You can check him out through his new book "Creating Your New Lifestyle" by Hamilton C. Erridge at his website or through Amazon. The book isn't diet specific, it's for any plan, maybe a 3FC review is in order

Yeesh, it sounds like I work for him or something doesn't it? Well, if I ever move to California...

Thanks for the info Suzanne, I'm going to do more research, I love it!

Offering some sort of telephone support is a requirement to be able to sell the product from the manufacturer. However, they don't require that you be a qualified dietitian. One of the reasons I would recommend Medifast first is that you have constant access to registered dietitians and staff who are qualified to answer medical questions. Unfortunately, most of us that battle weight problems also have a whole host of other medical problems that can be affected by the diets we choose to follow. When following a vLCD such as these, the chance of needing professional help is higher.

I'm not saying NLD is bad, I'm just saying it's not the same thing as Medifast. The product is different, and the support is different. It may be a good option for a lot of people. But it's not the same thing, and Medifast would be a better option in my opinion

I want the know the difference between medifast and slim-fast? I started medifast yesterday and hate the taste of the chili, minestone soup so far. I am just starting so I don't know what else I will dislike. But why can't slim-fast be substituted for it. If someone keeps the calories at 1000like medifast? I think it would cheaper.
I tried NS and the price and taste was terrible. My husband was not happy because I was eating different foods then the family. So I stopped.

Medifast is a low carb, low glycemic, low fat, and low calorie diet designed for quick weight loss. You mix the products with water, and you eat 5 Medifast per day along with one Lean and Green meal.

Slimfast has twice as many calories when blended as instructed on the package, so you can't have as many per day, and may get hungry. It has more carbs, which can affect weight loss speed when compared to Medifast. The nutrients are different, too.

Slimfast is well suited for someone that just has a few pounds to lose. Medifast is designed for someone with a lot of weight to lose.

I've tried Medifast and agree that the soups are not good. I enjoyed the drink mixes, puddings, chai, and everything else.

Not to start a debate, but I gotta stick up for Hamilton, the guy that packages the stuff for New Lifestyle Diet. He offers a direct contact phone number and email and a street address for his company instead of just an online form that goes who knows where He even answers emails himself and started a blog years ago that turned into a liquid diet message board. The company is a member of the BBB with a satisfactory record (I researched all this before purchasing) too.

Just wanted to put in my two cents for Hamilton as well...I've spoken with him on the phone--he's a really upstanding fellow! He runs a good discussion board for liquid diets. If I were to ever go the liquid diet route again, I would use his products.

__________________One day at a time is more than just a saying.....First goal: Back under 300!

I am one of those people who spends a lifetime gaining and losing the same 25 pounds, but just to put my 2 cents in, I know two people who have gone on medifast and both of them had great short term results and awful long term results. One of them (my sister) did it for her wedding, she lost the weight but gained twice as much back and feels that this program really wrecked her metabolism. The other lady I know lost 85 pounds, looked awesome, but gained back almost 100 lbs and now is having trouble budging it with any other diet, but is sick to death of all those products to the point where she can't be in the same room with them. Genie Francis of General Hospital fame has a blog re: being on this diet and I was struck with the fact that even going out to eat she has to bring this stuff-there's not flexibility....I think it sounds like an awful program but it must work for SOMEBODY just to stay in business I guess!

I tried Medifast and hated everything. I kept ordering more, thinking, I would find something I liked.Every soup had to have so many spices and boullion added to it so I could eat it that it was a huge hassle. The chili has to "steep" for several minutes to soften up the beans, it just was not good tasting enough to me to keep on it, with the amount of money I was spending.Thats just my opinion, I havent tried the others, so I can't comment.

__________________You can't quit until you try You can't live until you die You can't learn to tell the truth until you learn to lie

Medifast...wasnt hungry but the food was not tasty at all with maybe a couple of exceptions

Nutrisystem...well basically the food was "ok", nothing spectacular, but it wasnt so bad I couldnt eat it...I didnt like spending all that money and still having to add store bought "fresh" foods to it, so it was spendy!

Diet to go.....fresher food, but again not as tasty as I had hoped and way to expensive to stay on, so I only did a weeks worth.

GOOD LUCK, IT IS A HARD CHOICE TO MAKE!

__________________CW~161GW~155 6lbs to go!!! OMG!!!!

"Girls are like phones. We love to be held, talked too but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected!"~anonymous

I'm wondering if anybody's tried making your own pre-made/measured diet meals? I know it sounds like a lot of work but if there was a reference/cookbook type thing out there, it would be kind of cool to form a sort of network with other dieters and each cook a big batch of something healthy on the weekend, freeze in individual portions and switch around with each other!

My problem is I don't know any other dieters, my friends and family for whatever reason are ridiculously healthy. I was even thinking of advertising at Craigslist for like-minded do-it-yourselfers to form a diet cooking co-op and suport group, but I was thinking, how would I know if they were good cooks, or had clean kitchens, or if they were psychos or something?

Anyhow just an idea I've been kicking around. I love the convenience of pre-made & pre-measured meals, but with my familiy's finances it's just not feasible for mom to have her own grocery budget!